Legend Simkin has a place in heart of great rivals

Northampton has won the Great Northern Football League reserves premiership 16 times, much more than any other club. Neighbours Chapman Valley have never flown a seconds flag at Nabawa. On Sunday, the clubs clash in the reserves final. The only other time that happened was 50 years ago . . . in 1970. Shortly after grand final day that year, something big happened — and the relationship between the clubs changed. Word is the faithful followers of the two clubs, despite rubbing shoulders in many regards, don’t see eye to eye. If such is the case, you’re looking at the man who probably created the chasm. Owen Simkin is arguably the best player not to have won a J.J. Clune medal. So good was he as a teenager in his first year of senior footy with the Rams in 1961, he had East Perth, East Fremantle and Claremont chasing him. He went to the Royals for two years; in one match he and Shark tough-nut Con Regan had a “run-in” which spilt into the boundary fence. Simkin “collected” a few umbrellas, was reported and suspended for a week. He returned to Northampton early to work a second farm his parents had bought. But when he missed the coaching position with the Rams in 1971, he was approached by Towns to coach their seconds. (Friend and former Rams coach Maurie Drennan was senior coach there). His clearance was rejected. And so was another one. So Simkin sat on the sidelines for a year. This is half a century ago stuff. At the end of 1971, Simkin was approached by the Royals, the GNFL variety not the WAFL ones, to coach. And guess what? He went and the Valley won league premierships in 1972, ’73 and ’74, the first club to complete a hat-trick. “My toughest job was dodging the traffic when driving from Northampton to Chapman Valley three times a week,” Simkin smiled. When in 1994, Tony Parasiliti penned the book Football Greats of the GNNFL/GNFL, Simkin told him the three years at Chapman Valley “provided me with the biggest thrill in my sporting career”. “We played a totally different brand of football, which was handball-orientated, two men going for the ball at all times,” he added. The Valley wanted Simkin to stay. But in 1975 he went home, where he was welcomed back to the fold and family like the Prodigal Son in the Bible. He coached the Rams for two years and gave it away . . . but was talked into just playing in 1977. And you wouldn’t believe who the Rams beat in the grand final that year. None other than the Royals. These days, Simkin, 76, lives a simple but satisfied life at Port Gregory. He spends time in a boat and on a family property at Yallabatharra. He is still a gentle giant, though his hands shake a lot. He was one of, if not the first, footballer to wear a headguard when playing. His mum was concerned about hits to the head, and Simkin reckons in his day players got concussion one week and played the next. “I get voluntary tremors, but it’s not Parkinson’s (disease). I’ve been to see a neurologist, who’s not sure if it’s football or farming-related (chemicals),” he said. “He said footballers and farmers are the worst occupations for these things.” Simkin isn’t sure if he’s going to the grand final and don’t ask who he’s barracking for. “Don’t ask and you don’t have to get an answer,” he grinned. Though son-in-law Stephen Pears is an assistant senior coach at the Valley, there’s a lot of green and gold in his veins. “Always had good reserves sides at Northampton. I can remember there being 35 league blokes and 35 reserves blokes training on the one ground, half an oval each,” Simkin said. “The Valley had a smaller shire, didn’t have the numbers. But it’s played pretty fiercely.” He should know . . . he may have started it.